


Alibi

by InksandPens



Category: Real Person Fiction, Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Deceit is mentioned but doesn't appear, Thomas has no lines, Virgil curses a little, actually it's the narrator that curses, but he's still important, but it's Virgil's POV so, not in person at least, poking at the petri dish that is the Anxiety-Deceit dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-13 23:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13581567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InksandPens/pseuds/InksandPens
Summary: Of course he would put him in that position. Making him crave denial. How dare he.





	Alibi

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this Tumblr post.  
> https://anxious-ball-of-sunshine.tumblr.com/post/170805823669

_No no no no no…_

The anxious Side struggled to breathe as his eyes skipped across the mirror, taking in the left half of his face. The scales. The bulging eye. The scar of a mouth. _That disgusting yellow._

_No no no, change it back…_

He watched the reflection of his shaking hand as it rose to his cheekbone. He didn’t want to touch it. He didn’t want to _see_ himself touch it. Just seeing or feeling was bad enough, but both would just confirm that…that he…

_Change me back…_

It would force him to believe it. And he didn’t want to believe it. 

A small flare of stubborn indignation cut through the horror, just long enough for Virgil to regain some of his bearings. Of course _he_ would put him in that position. Making him crave denial. How dare he. 

Virgil inched his hand forward before he could stop himself, teasing his fingers across the scales under his engorged eye. 

Yep. This was real.

A shudder wracked his lungs. 

Clenching his teeth, he tore his now-mismatched gaze from his face to look the rest of himself over. He even had the Snake’s clothes, down to the stupid gloves. Virgil made an effort to focus on his new wardrobe in favor of his new scaly profile; it was easier to ridicule.

Didn’t mean he liked it any better. The gloves were the first to go, followed by the hat, flung to the floor with extreme prejudice. He tried to tug the cape off next, but the clasp seemed to have a mind of its own. Heck, maybe it did, knowing who’s fault this was. 

“ **C’mon** ,” the anxious Side growled, growing wary at the beginnings of an echo in his own voice. He had to calm down or this would start affecting Thomas. He pulled at the cape more insistently. He couldn’t change himself back ( _oh God oh God_ ) but if he could just get his regular clothes back he might feel better. He could hide in his hoodie until he figured out how to solve the real problem. 

Except the damn cape refused to come off. 

“ **Get off!** ” Virgil snapped, pulling at the garment so furiously that he almost spun himself completely around. 

So occupied was he that he barely noticed the muffled clang. Harder to ignore was how the flooring underneath his feet suddenly changed. 

 _Oh no_. 

“ _Whoa!_ ”

“Huh?!”

“ _WHAT!_ ”

Hands flying to his face in alarm, Virgil tried to sink back into the safety of his room. But he couldn’t. The way was barred. Someone moved in his peripheral vision, and he stumbled backward in an effort to maintain distance, tripping over his own feet and colliding with the wall of the stairway. 

“ ** _STAY BACK!_** ” The words launched themselves out of his lungs as he threw one hand out in front of him, turning his face away to better conceal it behind the other arm. Panting heavily, he struggled to regain his balance. “ ** _LET ME GO! DON'T LOOK AT ME!"_**

 _Stop talking stop talking **he** talks_ his mind insisted, running on overdrive. He couldn’t see the others and he could barely hear anything over his own gasping and heaving breaths. But he hadn’t actually said anything that could be misconstrued, had he? There were only so many ways to interpret ‘don’t look at me,’ he couldn’t have done himself in just by saying _that_? But what if their guard was already up an it was too late? He was still wearing the damn opera clothes, even if they couldn’t see his face–except the hat and the gloves and he could feel the scales a lot better without the gloves on oh God make them go away let him go back _let him change back no no nono **no–**_

“ _Virgil_!!”

Not “where is Virgil.” Not “what have you done with Virgil.” Just his name.

Shaking, the Side peered around his arm. Logan was already halfway up the stairs, taking up almost his entire field of vision. Behind the logical Side, he could barely make out the other two, gathered around someone sitting on the couch. Thomas. Thomas was breathing. Breathing for him. 

“We know it’s you, Virgil,” Logan spoke in measured tone. 

“ **Wh…hhh…h-how…**?”

“We called you, not Deceit,” the teacher explained. “He announces himself rather differently, no matter who he looks like.  It stands to reason that the aspect we summoned would be the one that showed up, no matter the physical appearance.”

Slowly, Virgil turned his head to fully face the logical Side. He didn’t put his arm down yet. He’d face this if he had to, but not without a shield. Skittishly, he searched the other’s gaze. Logan believed what he was saying. That was a good sign.

Not enough. “ **…Patton?** ”

Footsteps, then…

“I’m here, kiddo.” The moral Side shouldered his way past Logan, taking Virgil’s still-outstretched hand in both his own. “Dad’s here, we’re all here. We know you’re not really him.”

The anxious Side lowered his shield, painfully slowly, meeting Patton’s eyes. They were warm with sincerity.

Too much. Virgil had only pushed himself up from the wall before he collapsed against the other Side, burying his face in Patton’s shoulder so he wouldn’t have to feel it himself anymore. He didn’t understand what Patton said next, as he adjusted to a more comfortable hold, but it sounded nice and soothing. Catching his breath, he tried to hush up and synch his breathing with Thomas’s. 

“Sounds like we gave you quite the scare,” he heard the Prince’s voice carry itself over from the general vicinity of the sofa. “If it was going to startle you that much, why didn’t you just change back when you felt the summons? Why were you even shifting into his shape anyway?”

“I _can’t_ ,” the anxious Side huffed into Patton’s shoulder. “He changed me himself. If I didn’t do the change I can’t change myself back.”

Thomas paused in his breathing. Patton’s arms constricted the slightest bit tighter. Neither Roman nor Logan said anything. Thomas resumed breathing. 

“W-well, when you’re all settled, one of us can help you with…that,” said the creative Side. He sounded a bit subdued. 

Virgil wasn’t calm enough yet to wonder why. 

He exhaled slowly, letting himself indulge in a little self-congratulation as he finally, completely synched his breaths with those of his host. Almost there. Just a little longer. Then they’d take care of this. He’d be back to normal in no time. 


End file.
